Elizabeth Dowker

Rethinking the Genesis of Mudejar: Architecture in Medieval Spain

Following the surrender of Toledo to Alfonso VI of Castile-León in 1085 C.E., shifting political and religious power remolded the social fabric and land ownership of the city. As the former capitol of the Visigothic empire and one of the cities on the ‘frontier’ of a hegemonically Christian Spain, Toledo was a nexus of the manifestation of Reconquest ideology for Castilian Christians. Religious buildings in Toledo constructed or expanded during the twelfth- through fourteenth-centuries express stylistic adaptation and growth. However, the terminology used to describe this architecture needs further clarification. This paper suggests that with respect to Toledo, the term Mudéjar has been inflated to include theories of the social development of this architecture and elements that may not truly have been part of this regional style. I will assess the rise of a distinct architectural style in religious architecture in twelfth- to fourteenth-century Toledo through formal analysis and social contextualization of patronage. Representative key examples are the church of Santa Cruz and the church of Santiago de Arrabal. This paper will focus on the inconsistent definitions of the Mudéjar architectural style offered by contemporary scholarship and scrutinize the factors that likely contributed to the development of this visual style.